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Calgary Researchers Expose Dangerous Gaps in Doctor Misconduct Tracking Across Canada

University of Calgary study reveals hundreds of cases of physician sexual assault go unreported to the public, leaving patients vulnerable.

Calgary Researchers Expose Dangerous Gaps in Doctor Misconduct Tracking Across Canada
(CBC Health / File)

A alarming new study from the University of Calgary is raising serious questions about patient safety in Canada, revealing that allegations and convictions of sexual misconduct against physicians are falling through the cracks of a fragmented reporting system.

Researchers at the university spent more than a year combing through media reports, court documents, and provincial regulatory college websites to track cases of sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct by Canadian doctors between 2019 and 2024. What they found was disturbing: 208 physicians accused in connection with 689 alleged victims — the majority of them women and girls — with critical information scattered across multiple jurisdictions and difficult for the public to access.

"It should be easy. But it took us over a year," said Dr. Shannon Ruzycki, lead author of the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. "We're well-trained people who know how to use a database, who spend lots of time on the internet. And it was challenging for us to find out what the outcomes were, what actually happened."

The research uncovered a range of serious allegations, including sexual relationships with patients, voyeurism, and inappropriate physical examinations. Nearly one-third of cases involved sexual assault charges, while 36 per cent involved sexual boundary violations or sexual misconduct complaints. Family medicine was the most commonly cited discipline.

Criminal Convictions Go Unreported

Perhaps most troubling, the study found 13 cases where physicians were criminally charged — yet their provincial regulatory college profiles contained no notification of the charges. Of the 72 cases that reached police, only 29 physicians were ultimately convicted.

"We thought the lack of reporting and consistent transparent reporting really means that the regulatory bodies are not meeting their obligations to protect the public," Ruzycki said.

According to Dr. Kirstie Lithgow, the study's first author and clinical associate professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, the data reveals an even more troubling pattern: approximately 30 per cent of the accused doctors had previous complaints on record.

"There's a risk that if somebody is behaving in this way and abusing their power — and creating an unsafe environment for patients — they have the opportunity to harm a lot of people," Lithgow explained.

Calls for National Database

The research team is now calling for a national database that would make physician misconduct information easily accessible to the public and to regulatory bodies across provinces. Currently, information is scattered across 13 separate provincial and territorial regulatory colleges, making it nearly impossible for patients or other medical professionals to identify practitioners with histories of misconduct.

The findings underscore a critical gap in Canada's health-care oversight system at a time when patient safety and professional accountability are increasingly under scrutiny. Regulatory bodies argue they face privacy and legal constraints, but the researchers contend that the public's right to know about dangerous practitioners must take precedence.

If you have concerns about a physician's conduct, you can file a complaint with your provincial medical regulatory college. Many provinces also allow anonymous reporting through their websites.

This article is based on reporting from CBC Health.

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